Hello. I am hoping for some advice as I am extremely distraught. I just had some distressing news about my father’s health and need to go home to see him as soon as possible, but I have just started a 5 week long sit. I don’t know what to do. I want to find someone to replace me but don’t know how to go about it. I have read that normally the HO would do this but I don’t think it’s fair on them and they are abroad. They have been extremely kind to me, making sure I would be comfortable and I want to make sure I find someone reliable and that I can do a proper handover. I have found the THS help line to be most unhelpful in the past so am hoping for advice from this lovely community. What would you recommend ? Thank you so much.
I suggest informing your host about the emergency asap requesting their permission to find a replacement if they unable to arrange one. Should they agree, you can seek a replacement through the forum or, if not permitted, via alternative Facebook groups.
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Hi @traveltails, welcome to the forum.
First I’m sorry to hear about your father’s health. I hope he gets well soon.
I understand you want to help the owner and that’s nice of you but, as @messenger suggests, I think you should inform the owner ASAP, you can also offer to help if you can but I am afraid only the owner can find a replacement: list the sit, screen applicants… That way everything would be covered. Unless you can recommend someone very close to you, whom you fully trust, I don’t see how you can help, other than suggesting the owner using this forum to advertise as a last minute sitting.
Good luck
You can read all the reasoning on this threadhttps://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/is-it-possible-to-reach-out-to-a-fellow-sitter/53673
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Sorry for your dad, but it’s actually very easy. Don’t find a replacement for you by yourself, it’s not your pet and not your house. Message the owner and explain and find a solution together. A forum won’t replace direct communication.
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thank you I appreciate your taking the time to reply. I will do as you suggest.
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thank you so much for taking the time to reply and for your good wishes and advice. i was hoping to get back to the owner with some suggestions of applicants that they could vet rather than leave it all to them which doesn’t sit right with me. but i will do as you suggest and offer to find someone via the forum or FB groups.
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Thank you for taking the time to reply. Yes I will contact the owner and try to find a solution with them.
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Ths is sound advice.
Best wishes to you and your father.
Sorry to hear of your predicament.
You could ring the relevant 24 hr emergency number on your dashboard.
Perhaps @Carla or @Jenny could list the details of your sit to see if another THS sitter could help out.
I would definitely advise the homeowners as they may have a friend or relative who could step in. I wouldn’t try and find a replacement yourself, it is too risky.
Hope all goes well.
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@traveltails
Sorry to hear about your family emergency. Did the owners give you a local emergency contact in the welcome guide (neighbour, friend , relative ) who can take over ?
If you advise the owners as soon as possible they should already have a back up plan in place for such an emergency.
The sooner you inform them the more time they have to make alternative arrangements. They may be covered by the sit cancel plan if they are Premium members .
To benefit from this they will need you to advise them that you have to leave( preferably through THS inbox and whatever other channel you are communicating with them )
Let them know the day you must leave so that they can get the dates changed on THS and re-list the sit , or get alternative care or return home .
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We had a similar scenario and thinking back should have handled it differently. We were doing a local sit when our son ended up in hospital. He needed to be discharged into our care so I went home with our son and my husband stayed at the sit not far away. We never informed the homeowners as we didn’t want to let them down. We received a one line 4 star review - first time ever. I knew they weren’t happy with something so I asked the homeowner. They weren’t happy with some of the dishes not being cleaned properly and felt the plants weren’t taken care of to their liking. They had no idea what we had gone through with our son being hospitalized. Next time I would seek our someone else to complete the sit.
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@traveltails You should mention in this thread where you are located and the number and type of pets. You never know. Perhaps someone who reads this might be able and willing to help (with the Owner’s permission, of course).
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Thank you, you are most kind.
Thank you so much. I will reach out as you suggest.
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I am blown away by the kindness of this community. I feel extremely distraught at the prospect of letting the homeowners down so it really helps to have guidance on how best to try to resolve this. I need to check what their membership is. thank you for suggesting it.
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yes I’m going to do that thank you for the suggestion
thank you for your feedback. really good advice.
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I would have done the same way, I think… Leaving my husband behind or the other way around (depending which emergency, which family).
I just would tell the home-owner about it, when I now read your story. That way they can be more understanding if something wouldn’t be clean…
But you did what you thought was the best way at that moment.
Just one question: (and I am really curious, because this scenario almost happened to us last year, but luckily it wasn’t necessary):
You say it was a local sit? Couldn’t you tell the home owners and ask if your son could stay also in their house, if there was enough space?
(I know: third party rule, but I think emergencies breaks rules)
And otherwise: It wasn’t one dog? Because I always think I would have taken it with me then? If I had to leave fast and the home owners hadn’t a replacement and we’re okay with it.
(Again, not ideal, but emergency, so looking for the best solution)
I really didn’t want to let the homeowners down or take the one dog out of its home. At the same time, I didn’t want to bother the homeowners with our family emergency. This was over a year ago so I don’t feel any need to discuss with the homeowners nor would I sit for them again.
If I were the homeowner in this situation, I’d have a pretty good idea of steps and to what extent I needed your help. There are lots of different backup ideas the HO might have. Just let them know what the situation is, and when you need to leave by and find out what their plan is. It might be simple and logical, and not need to involve you very much. In this situation you need to take care of you.
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